Monday, July 3, 2017

MRG report on current religious intolerance of Hindu Fascists in India

What is happening inside India today is nothing but terrorism against minority communities, esp. the Muslims, which are often time packaged as incidents of communal violence. In my opinion, in communal violence both the parties - those attacked and those who attack - are often almost equal participants, but when a religious community like Hindus routinely attack other religious communities like Muslims, it would be wrong to suggest that it was communal violence. I call it religicide or genocide with the aim of terrorizing the vulnerable Muslim community to force them out of the country or get killed by lynching or similar murderous tactics.

With the rise of BJP and Modi's silence not only to condemn such heinous crimes of his fellow Hindu fascists against Muslims but more importantly of not doing anything to stop such fascist attacks what we are witnessing in India is pure Hindu fascism. There is absolutely no other way to categorize such crimes.

The report below from MRG, Minority Rights Group International, is, seemingly, an attempt to water down Hindu fascism. That is sad and wrong.

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Constant communal violence over the past five years has had a heavy toll on minorities in certain areas of India. Muslims make up the large majority of victims of hate crimes, threats, attacks on places of worship, and forced conversion, but Christians and Sikhs are also affected, says a new report.

According to the report, A Narrowing Space: Violence and Discrimination Against India’s Religious Minorities, by the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) and Minority Rights Group International (MRG), unless efforts are advanced to address impunity and rising intolerance the situation will further deteriorate.

‘While communal violence has long been a concern for India’s religious minorities, the current situation is particularly severe,’ says Claire Thomas, MRG’s Deputy Director.

In recent years there has been rising hostility towards India’s religious minorities, particularly since the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Narendra Modi, took power in May 2014 and began to actively promote Hindu nationalism. The report says that Modi’s reluctance to condemn these attacks is also reflected in more stringent laws that discriminate against religious minorities.

‘The passage of legislation which contributes to the targeting of minorities, such as more stringent anti-cow slaughter laws, combined with long-standing social, economic, and cultural discrimination, has left India’s religious minorities feeling increasingly insecure, and is particularly the case for those suffering multiple discrimination, such as women and low-caste communities,’ adds Thomas.

In this environment, extremist right-wing groups have been emboldened to escalate attacks against religious minorities, including vigilante ‘cow protection’ groups and those involved with ‘anti-love jihad’ campaigns, both of which have become increasingly prominent since 2015. Perpetrators have been further aided by the problem of official indifference and even complicity in these attacks, say MRG and CSSS.

Unless the generalised climate of impunity is urgently addressed, attacks against religious minorities are likely to continue. MRG and CSSS urge the Indian government to enforce existing legislation protecting the rights of all religious communities, with the full commitment of police, judiciary and other actors.

The BJP’s promotion of Hindu nationalism is not only exclusionary towards India’s minorities, but has contributed to an overall atmosphere of intolerance in India, say the rights organisations.

‘High-level government officials have made statements that are spiteful to minorities, which has in turn motivated Hindu nationalists to indulge in violence on the streets,’ says Irfan Engineer, Director of CSSS. ‘For instance, the Minister of Women and Child Welfare stated that profits from slaughter houses are being used to fund terrorism. Not only was this an out of turn remark; it also encouraged vigilantes to attack members of minority communities engaged in the cattle trade,’ he added.

The report, and the interactive map launched alongside it,says that communal violence remains primarily concentrated in certain states, with the highest levels in Uttar Pradesh. Since recent elections in the state in early 2017 won by the BJP, there has been a spate of anti-Muslim violence, including reports of Muslims families fleeing their homes to other areas of Uttar Pradesh on account of rising threats and violence.

It also warns that levels of communal and anti-minority violence are likely to be considerably higher than reflected in official figures, as many incidents go unreported by both the Indian authorities and the media.

Notes to editors

·The report, Narrowing Space: Violence and Discrimination Against India’s Religious Minorities, is available for free download on MRG’s publications website on 29 June 2017. It focuses on the period between 2011 and 2016 and analyses key trends in communal violence and their implications for the country’s religious minorities. Developed by the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism and Minority Rights Group International, it references the latest available data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Crime Research Bureau, as well as media and fact-finding reports.

·The online interactive map Mapping Communal Violence in India 2013-2016(embargo applies to reporting) includes disaggregated statistics by state – number of incidents, and related deaths and casualties per year – as well as information regarding demography and relevant legislation, the map provides a visual representation of recent trends and developments, with figures spanning two different national governments.

·For more information, to receive an embargoed copy of the report or to arrange interviews with Claire Thomas, contact:

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I have a long history of a peaceful activist in my effort towards improving human rights and creating a just and equitable world. I have written extensively in the arena of humanity, global politics, social conscience and human rights since 1980, many of which have appeared in newspapers, magazines, journals and the Internet. I have tirelessly championed the cause of the disadvantaged, the poor and the forgotten here in Americas and abroad. Commenting on my articles, others have said, "His meticulously researched essays and articles combined with real human dimensions on the plight of the displaced peoples of Rohingya in Myanmar, Chechnya, Bosnia, Kosovo and Palestine, and American Muslims in the post-9/11 era have made him a singular important intellectual offering a sane voice with counterpoints to the shrill threats of the oppressors and the powerful. He offers a fresh and insightful perspective on a whole generation of a misunderstood and displaced people with little or no voice of their own." I have authored 13 books, 10 of which are now available through the Amazon.com.